In light of Coronavirus-related scams and citing Michigan’s label as one of the “terrible two”[1] in consumer protection nationwide, State Rep. Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Twp.) and Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn) introduced legislation today that would strengthen Michigan’s Consumer Protection Act.
“Michigan has some of the weakest consumer protection regulations in the nation, and throughout this crisis we’ve seen the detrimental effects of that,” said Camilleri. “It is unacceptable that current law prohibits our Attorney General, the person intended to be our top consumer watchdog, from outlining new unfair trade practices— as we’ve seen throughout this pandemic, those are emerging all the time. By empowering our AG with stronger tools to protect Michigan consumers, we can make sure more people across our state aren’t being unfairly taken advantage of, which is something Michiganders need and deserve now more than ever.”
“This pandemic continues to shine a bright light on the deficiencies in many of our laws, and in particular our consumer protection standards,” said Hammoud. “It is critical that we enhance our laws and the ability for our Attorney General to do the job of adequately protecting our residents, and prevent bad actors from taking advantage of people in a time of crisis. This legislation is an integral next step toward providing the protection that our residents depend upon when using their hard-earned money to make purchases, and we must hold all industries accountable.”
The two-bill package would do the following:
•House Bill 5793: Allow the Attorney General to enumerate new unfair trade practices to be included in the Consumer Protection Act (Camilleri)
•House Bill 5794: Expand the Consumer Protection Act to apply to regulated industries like utilities and insurance (Hammoud)
